Monday, June 29, 2009

NECC Exhibition Hall vs. Blogger Cafe

I'm having a delightful time here at NECC '09. This morning I risked going to the exhibition which is a huge carnival of commercialism with vendors barking their wares. If I closed my eyes, it sounded very much like the cacophony of an agricultural fair, only with a digital edge. There seemed to be a royal battle between a variety of interactive whiteboard manufacturers. There was also a huge number of content management "solutions" vying for attention. Interesting. Having heard the phrase, "follow the money," I wonder about this royal battle between putting content into smaller and smaller boxes to make money and the concept of open software and open resources. How will it all shake out?

Right now I'm sitting in the Blogger Cafe which is a wonderfully open and collaborative environment where online friends have the opportunity to meet and talk face to face in an informal setting. No question that this is my preference to the loudness of the exhibition hall. But gosh, I do know the ISTE needs to pay the bills.

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